Destiny 2 beta guide: How to blast though The Inverted Spire Strike, and the exclusive rewards you’ll get for doing it

By Shabana Arif

Having trouble with Destiny 2 beta’s The Inverted Spire Strike, or just want to know what you’re in for this weekend? We’ve got you covered.

The Destiny 2 beta is live on consoles for pre-order early access before the open beta begins this weekend.

The content is pretty limited compared to the beta for the first game with just one story mission that’s only accessible when you roll a new character. You can find our guide to the opening mission Homecoming right here.

Once you get through that, you have two Crucible modes to dabble in and one Strike.

Countdown is a new mode to Crucible, while players of Destiny will recognise Control.

Matt, Alex, and I gave The Inverted Spire Strike a whirl – you can watch our successful attempt below sans commentary – and we’ve got a quick and dirty guide for you on how to best get through the throngs of Cabal and Vex on Nessus, and beat the Strike boss Modular Mind at the end.

We also have a more in-depth class guide for the beta as a whole, as well a detailed breakdown of the new subclasses.

There’s Strike specific loot to be earned, which you can read about in more detail in our Destiny 2 beta Exotics, weapons, and armour guide, but to be brief, each class in the beta has the default armour set, a second set that can only be dropped as a Strike reward, and a third set that can only be dropped as a Crucible reward.

The Inverted Spire Strike armour reward for the Hunter is The Took Offense heavy armour. Warlocks will get the Xenos Vale IV heavy armour, and Titans will receive The Shelter In Place heavy armour.

Destiny 2 beta: The Inverted Spire Strike guide

 
Investigate the Cabal, Defeat All Hostiles, Access the Conflux, Press Forward

After you spawn into Nessus, get a wriggle on and head down the path on the left before waves of Cabal and Vex show up to usher you down there. There’s no sense in wasting good ammo.

A shielded Quantum Minotaur and his buddies are whooping some Cabal butt, so break up the party and activate the white tower at the edge of the platform to spawn a set of floating platforms.

Head across the platforms and jump through the portal at the end. You’ll be greeted by a small group of Legionaries, and up on higher ground, three sniping Psion and a Colossus outfitted with the usual missiles. Have someone snipe the Psion and Colossus while the others focus on the Legionaries before lending a hand.

Hop through the portal and continue into the cave.

Traverse Deeper, Eliminate the Vex, Press Forward

Push on and you’ll reach The Anchor. It’s a restricted zone so be careful not to have your entire Fireteam wiped out.

Drop down to the area below where the Cabal and Vex are at it again. Watch out for the Blood Guard Centurion, and sniping Psion.

It’s handy to have a sniper to hand to take out the Hobgoblins and Psion from afar, while the others take out the Phalanx shielding the Blood Guard Centurion, before turning their attention to him.

The Vex surrounding the barrier are the next order of business. Once again, a sniper can make short work of the Hobgoblins. The rest of the Vex is made up of a couple of shielded Minotaurs and a throng of Goblins.

The barrier will come down once they’ve been dealt with, so continue on into the next area.

Approach the Drilling Site, Eliminate Drill Site Security

We’re back out into the relatively fresh air of the Legion Drill Site. Drop down to the platform below and deal with the Gladiator.

It’s worth taking out the two Psion directly opposite so that they don’t cause you any problems as you traverse the platforms to reach solid ground again, but they can be avoided with relative ease, so it’s your decision on whether you think they’re worth the ammo.

There are a couple of Gladiators on the platform directly below them, so jump over and kill them sharpish.

Two Legionaries await on the next platform down. Clear them out and jump over into the crowd of Hobgoblins on the other side to do the same.

Follow the path and drop down into the warzone below where you’ll meet the cuddly new War Beasts, whose speciality is tearing everyone to shreds. Fight your way through the battling Vex and Cabal to the Drill Site Security. You need to kill the two Drill Officers who are hiding out in the two buildings.

There are a couple of Psion sniping from the roof of each building as well as Legionaries, Phalanx, and a Colossus who will drop in to join the fray. Take out the Psion and Colossus first so you don’t have to worry about a sniper round or missile sneaking up on you. Once the enemy troops have been thinned out, head to the markers to find the Security Officers, who are shielded Blood Guard Legionaries.

Their guard detail is made up of a couple of Phalanx and Legionaries, but it’s nothing a grenade launcher can’t handle.

Board the Cabal Drill, Reorient the Transit System, Repel All Attackers

Drop down to the ledge below to activate the two switches that will turn on the gravity lifts. They’re guarded by a couple of shielded Centurions.

The lifts will propel you onto the drill and right into the sights of a group of Cabal. Clear them out and then drop down to mop up the rest.

Interact with the switch and hold off the waves of Cabal while the Transit System resets. The waves will include Legionaries, Gladiators, War Beasts, and Blood Guard Legionaries. Once the gravity lift is active and the enemies have been dealt with, hop through.

Cross the Digsite

Follow the path and take out the Incendiors by shooting their tanks so that they explode, because it’s tremendous fun. There are Psion up on the right and while it’s possible to whittle them down with an auto rifle or other mid-range weapon for a slow demise, a sniper would expedite the process.

Navigate the platforms to the bottom where you’ll find more Incendiors and Phalanx, as well as a Blood Guard Incendior.

Get Clear of the Drill

Arguably the most fun part of the Strike, you need to avoid the multiple drill arms by jumping up and down to the different levels, and hiding behind large rocks, all the while avoiding Cabal forces. You can engage them if you want to, but as we’re heading towards the boss fight and speed is of the essence to get past the drill, there’s no point getting too sidetracked with them.

Investigate the Digsite

Successfully surviving the drill run will bring you to a tunnel. Follow it to The Inverted Spire, a restricted zone and the stage for the boss fight with Protheon, Modular Mind.

Drop down, take out the three Harpies, and cross over to the platform they were on to spawn Protheon, Modular Mind.

Defeat Protheon, the Modular Mind

The boss’ weak spot is his glowing eye headlamp, so keep shooting him in the face, while taking out the ads. Modular Mind will teleport like the Vex Minotaurs, so stay on your toes and utilise the cover in the area.

Because he moves around so much, mowing down ads is crucial to every stage of this battle so that you don’t get overwhelmed.

Once you’ve chipped off almost a third of his health bar, both he and the floor will disappear, dropping you down to the platform below. Any surviving Vex will drop down with you.

On the second platform, the boss will remain in the middle, Hobgoblins will spawn on the edge of his platform, and Goblins will spawn in ring around the centre. The best place for cover is the outer ring.

Always keep one eye on the Modular Mind – when he smashes his fist into the ground, the floor of the inner rings will turn red, then they’ll return to normal as the outer ring turns red. Then the entire floor will flash red, launching anyone standing on it up into the air and potentially off into the abyss.

When he does this move, stand on the outside to avoid the inside ring, then hop over to the inside while the outer ring is red, then double (or triple) jump to avoid the floor entirely for the last flash.

When another third of this health has almost been chipped off, the platform will disappear, dropping your Fireteam and any surviving Vex to the final area.

Don’t stray off the platform as the Vex Milk will damage you. Although Warlocks can take advantage of the infinite ammo cheese for the Riskrunner Exotic by utilising the unique class skill Healing Rift.

Healing Rift counteracts the damage from the Vex Milk, but as standing in it is technically causing damage, the Riskrunner perk will keep kicking in, refilling its ammo. This will most likely be patched out for the full release, so take full advantage during the beta.

Modular Mind will stick to the outside of the platform during the first phase, wading through the Vex Milk. Ads will spawn in the milk by the stairs, so stay on top of them to prevent the platform from getting overrun.

Once his head pops off, he’ll join you on the platform, so stay out of his path to avoid getting stomped on. Persevere until he’s popped his clogs once and for all.

You’ll get a Strike specific piece of gear for your trouble and a Legendary weapon.